Behave Like We Believe
Behave Like We Believe
“Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.””
John 20:29
Easter, Glorious Easter. The day Christ has risen!!!!
Since February 28, 2019 when I turned my life to Jesus Christ from a prison cell, this has been a day I always look toward. The story of the empty tomb, the story of disbelief, the story of Jesus showing Himself to Mary Magdalene, Thomas Doubting and then believing - this is THE Christian story.
I explained to our twelve year old the other day the importance of the boulder that was placed in front of the tomb. You see, Jesus could have simply walked through the boulder. Or he could have moved it, exited the tomb and then placed the boulder back. But He left it open. He left it open so others could inspect an empty tomb. Imagine the questions and doubt if the boulder/rock/stone had stayed in place and never moved?
Without the resurrection our Christianity would hold a deficit. There would be disbelief. Uncertainties. Questions. And no pun intended, but my faith is rock solid based on this piece of the story. There is no doubt whatsoever that Jesus Chris was sacrificed for the sins of the world and that He had risen from the dead. No one, ever, will convince me otherwise. Period.
Jesus had to die. It was His death on that cross that forgave our sins and reconciled us back to God. He was the perfect sacrifice for our imperfections and sin. His resurrection proves His divine nature and Gods amazing power as our creator. And why three days? The Jewish people believed that after three days, resurrection impossible. And Jesus proved that wrong.
So many evidentiary pieces in place and yet people still don’t believe. I’ve witnessed major crimes acquitted with more evidence. But I digress.
Why do we behave in such a way to err from our Christianity? We have the proof. We have the documentation. We have the blessings. We have the miracles. We know the truth.
Yet as Christian’s we only give God the time we feel He is worth. We attend only the important services. We do the things that only the church asks. We are so comfortable within our own definition of what we believe Christianity is. Not how Jesus Christ defined it for us with His death.
Christ died for us. That’s right, you and me!
He also rose from the dead three days later and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. And on top of all that, He commanded us to go out into the world and disciple others and to spread the Gospel about Him.
When was the last time you discipled someone? Evangelized? Told the story of the Gospel?
We check off just enough boxes to feel better about ourselves, do enough church to feel like we are staying in line and give enough money to believe we are building the Kingdom.
We have to stop behaving like we believe, especially if it doesn’t add up. Some of us don’t even behave close to what we believe. And some of us actually do behave like we believe, which is sad in itself.
Our lives are a gift of God that a sacrifice was given for, because we our lousy sinners. Our belief in Jesus Christ has given us eternal life because of His death and resurrection. Not because we go to church, or tithe or because we call ourselves Christian’s. It because of what He did. We merely had to fold and admit we are not able to do any of this on our own. We had to go to the feet of Jesus. Yet, somehow, we believe, we are the story.
Our belief isn’t based on our behavior. Our behavior should be a result of our belief.
We should be openly evangelizing to others about the power and grace and mercy of God. Not telling everyone about all the stuff we did over the weekend, where we went, how great we are.
We should be disciplining those we know, that are desiring growth, but lacking encouragement. Not spending all our energy on what we want and what we have.
We should be telling the stories of Jesus Christ and what He is doing in our lives. Not complaining of all the problems we have.
Mary cried and wept at the loss of her Savior when she saw the tomb was empty. And as soon as Jesus made it known to her that He was with her at that moment, she immediately did as she was told. She went to tell the others that He Is Risen.
She behaved liked she believed.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
John 20:30-31